Peter Agius has become the first candidate to be approved by the Nationalist Party for next year’s European Parliament election.

The approval was given on Monday night by the party’s executive committee. Agius joins Roberta Metsola and David Casa who, as MEPs, are automatically candidates for the May 2024 election as per party statute.

In a post on Facebook, Agius thanked the executive for “unanimously” approving his nomination, as well as his family for their support.

Agius, a senior EU official and former Head of European Parliament Office in Malta, has vouched new energy in representation of Maltese interests in Europe.

“It will soon be 20 years since we joined the EU. The Union has changed dramatically since then. It is now time to renew our collective ambition to make the best of EU membership,” he said in comments to The Malta Independent.

“We must do better in attracting EU opportunities to Malta and ensuring that these reach all sectors of society. We must also see to a more efficient representation of Maltese needs in EU decision making which is all too often shaped on different needs other than those pertaining to Maltese workers and businesses,” he said.

 “I am ready to use my experience in EU institutions tempered with the regular contact with people across Maltese society. The forthcoming MEP elections are an opportunity for our country to choose the best representatives to pitch Malta’s case in Brussels.

“All too often, EU rules are being moulded without an island dimension, setting us off at a disadvantage. This we have seen also recently with EU transport, environmental and food production rules. I will keep on striving to take the voices of Maltese sectors of society to the decision-making table in Brussels. This I have done already as a political activist for the past 4 years on a myriad of issues. I can do it with trebled efficiency as an MEP representing the interests of Maltese and Gozitan sectors of society,” he added.

Agius was a cabinet member of EP President Antonio Tajani, and was PN candidate in 2019 where he garnered close to 11,000 first preference votes in a blitz campaign focusing on bread and butter issues.

Notwithstanding not being elected as MEP, Agius’s political commitment continued after election. He was particularly active with initiatives on consumer protection, EU funding, EU opportunities for youths, transport and connectivity, Gozo and food production. Agius was also appointed as PN representative in the European People’s Party in 2000 and then as PN spokesperson last year.